Video 6:17
NT Thunder looks to future success

The Northern Territory Thunders have had a rough season, but coach Murray Davis and player Kenrick Tyrrell affirm that the team is ever on the up.

Transcript

LAETITIA LEMKE, PRESENTER: It's getting to the pointy end of the QAFL season and the Northern Territory Thunder is on the cusp of making its first finals series. But the Thunder has struggled away from home, and the club was embroiled in turmoil at the start of the season when senior members quit. Iskhandar Razak caught up with head coach Murray Davis and player Kenrick Tyrrell, just before they flew off to play a crucial game that could define the Thunder's season and possibly the future of the club.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: Murray and Kenrick, thank you for talking to us today. Murray, this is a vital game against Aspley. Lose, and you pretty much have to win the next two games to make sure that you play the finals - and that means beating the top side, Labrador, next week. Last year, the club was on the cusp of making the finals as well, but crumbled. What are you doing this time to make sure that The Thunder plays finals football?

MURRAY DAVIS, THUNDER COACH: Yeah, look, it's a very similar to last year and we're hoping that the experiences of those players that are playing this year that were also part of the team last year will hold us in good stead. I think we've probably managed the players throughout the year a lot better. I think the core group of players that we have in this season haven't played as many games back to back. And we're sort of hopeful that obviously we have a good win away this weekend and then follow that up with two home games - which is something that we didn't have last year, we didn't finish with two games in Darwin. So, we're hoping that those, we've had good records in Darwin and we're hoping we'll keep that intact.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: Kenrick, the team has really struggled away from home, and in Alice Springs. As a player, why does that keep happening?

KENRICK TYRRELL, THUNDER PLAYER: I think it'd be easy just to say travelling could sort of take it out of us and that's why it's harder to win over there. But we don't look at it like that. I think the results have gone down by, have only been a few goals, apart from the Labrador game in Queensland. So I think it's just a bit of coincidence as well. We've played in Alice springs, we won one out of four there, so two of them were against two of the best sides in the comp as well, so ...

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: Well, Murray, you have mentioned experience there, and at the end of last season we had a number of senior players and the senior coach leave. Is team maturity a problem?

MURRAY DAVIS: Oh, look, I don't think so, I think we've got some terrific leaders this year and, look, the Thunder program's a professional club and look, it's not for everyone and that's OK, but it's about finding the right people for this club moving forward as well. I think we've done that this year and there may be guys who want to come back to the club next year and we're sort of hopeful of that.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: It's a really long season for a lot of our Territory players because they play 12 months of the year, really. Are players feeling fresher this time around?

MURRAY DAVIS: I think our core group is, I think, yeah, that's a unique situation that this team is in. Not to mention the fact that we've got players all over the Territory and we are, we're a Territory team so there's players from Central Australia and Tiwi Islands and Katherine and some of the remote communities as well. So, that combined with the fact that you've got players that may be playing 25-30 games of football back to back is something that will have to be managed.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: It is naturally a fractured squad - I guess because you've got NTFL players CAFL players, bush players that you mentioned, language barriers, distance barriers. How do you manage that and create a team from that?

MURRAY DAVIS: Yeah look, it's a credit to the playing group and probably the support staff and also the leadership group that bring all that together. And look, it's challenging and there's a lot of challenges in any football club but that's fairly unique to this team.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: Kenrick, as a player on the ground, what does it feel like? Is this a Territory side, a side for Territorians, or a side still trying to inspire Territorians?

KENRICK TYRRELL: It's definitely a Territory side. Every time we cross the white line, it's like a brotherhood out there. Obviously we've got a few players from interstate but that's a minority. Doesn't matter whether you're from Alice Springs or Groote Eylandt, we all step over that white line as a brotherhood and play for each other and play for the State.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: Murray, membership numbers aren't what we would hope. At the start of the season the Thunder had a name and when the season began that aim hadn't been reached yet, but everyone loves a winner. So how important for the future of the club is it that the Thunder plays consistently in the finals?

MURRAY DAVIS: Yeah, look winning is a big part of this football club and it's got so many objectives that we're trying to meet. It's engagement of these players in the remote communities. Having players use the Thunder as a pathway onto bigger and better things in the AFL - um it's providing work opportunities for the players as well so they're all objectives that we're trying to meet. But winning is a big part of that as well and certainly that's our aim for this year. We narrowly missed out last year and we will be aiming to go one better this year and be a part of that final five and then as all those know that play football, funny things can happen, so we'll see how far we can go.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: You mentioned pathways - that's a big aim of the Thunder program, to get Territory players that bigger game experience and then get them noticed by the bigger competitions including the AFL. Who in the squad is getting some AFL attention?

MURRAY DAVIS: Yeah, look it's been pretty good this year again, we've had some of the younger guys that are coming through - Dion Munkara, David Kruse, young Steven May that's played a number of games with us has been signed to the new Gold Coast Sun's team, so that's terrific for the club. Hampton and Shaun Edwards have signed with GWS and will go down there next season as well. So that's terrific to already have three players um onto AFL lists already so that's prior to the draft even happening.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: Winning comes with consistency and consistent leadership - will you be back next year?

MURRAY DAVIS: Yeah, look, I'm contracted for the club next season which I'm really looking forward to. We're only a young club, a lot of people forget that, that we're only in our second year of the QAFL competition. The competition itself is heading big places, there's talk about a northern football comp with Gold Coast coming in and being involved with that and I'm certainly looking forward to being part of that in 2011.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: So bigger things to come, hey?

MURRAY DAVIS: Yeah, exactly, look I think it's been real positive year for us and despite where we finish I mean we're certainly aiming to play finals but there's been lots of positive stories come out of this season thus far.

ISKHANDAR RAZAK: Well Murray, Kenrick, thank you very much for talking to Stateline.